Newcomer Trayvon Robinson admired Orioles from afar

Eduardo A. EncinaThe Baltimore Sun

Trayvon Robinson was on the other side of the Orioles’ greatest example of resilience last season.

Then an outfielder for the Mariners, he entered Seattle’s game against the Orioles on Sept. 18 in the ninth inning. He went on to play another nine innings that night at Safeco Field in a 4-2 Orioles win in 18 innings, the longest of the O's 16 straight extra-inning wins that characterized the team’s never-say-die attitude.

“I had a couple nightmares about that game,” Robinson said Saturday at FanFest. “That game, I didn’t get no sleep. I was like, ‘I can’t believe this.’ I came in in the ninth inning and all of a sudden it’s the 18th inning and I’m like, ‘Man, I’ve played a whole game.’ They showed they didn’t quit at all. We didn’t quit also being on the Mariners, just the way they played, the next day we went for 10 innings. They just didn’t quit. I want to be a part of it.”

In that game, the Orioles rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the top of the ninth before winning in the 18th.

“Being on the other side playing against them, I see their energy,” Robinson said. “They were playing with a purpose. They were trying to get in it. Being on the other side again, just seeing the way they went about their business, even BP, going into the game to the last out, it was amazing. I was actually watching them throughout the whole season. In mid-summer, they just turned up another gear.”

Robinson, acquired in the trade that sent second baseman Robert Andino to the Mariners, will compete for a job in the Orioles outfield, which is crowded after the re-signing of Nate McLouth and the return of Nolan Reimold from neck surgery. He has no remaining minor league options, so the Orioles risk losing the 25-year-old if he doesn’t make the team out of spring training.

“I think it is what it is,” Robinson said. “We’re all wearing the same uniform. I don’t try to think that it’s competition. We’re all trying to have one goal, to play in the big leagues and win. That’s one thing. This isn’t my first big league spring training so I’m going to have the same mentality I’ve had and hopefully it works here.”